Skybound, publishers of The Walking Dead comic series, have announced that they will be continuing Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season after the effective closure of the studio.
Robert Kirkman revealed Skybound’s intentions at NYCC on Saturday, stating the following:
“We’ve successfully negotiated with Telltale Games for our company Skybound to come in and see Season 4 of the Telltale game to completion. We can’t lose Andrew Lincoln and Clementine in the same year.
We’re SO happy to announce that we’ve reached a deal with @telltalegames that will allow Skybound to continue #TheWalkingDead: The Final Season! Let’s wrap up Clem’s story right! More details to come soon. pic.twitter.com/ShyREw65iq
— Skybound Games (@skyboundgames) October 7, 2018
Kirkman had previously told fans to keep watch for news on the season, which was adapted from his series of comics and not the AMC show:
“Just stay tuned. Everybody involved is trying to make sure Clementine’s story is told. It’s a very unfortunate situation, but hopefully we will come out of it in some kind of positive way. I am not concerned at the moment with having to tell the story in comic book form because I’m hoping that the games will eventually be completed.”
The collapse of Telltale has been well documented with at least 250 members of staff let go without severance or warning. The capitulation is believed to be down to Telltale deals with AMC and Smilegate collapsing at the last second.
In a statement to IGN, Skybound left the door open for former Telltale devs to come back aboard to finish the season, though nothing has been properly cemented just yet:
“[We have] taken ownership of Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season and will finish the season. Skybound will work with members of the original Telltale team to finish the story in a way the fans deserve.”
Last we heard, Telltale were looking for ways to get the game completed despite the mass studio layoffs, which subsequently resulted in them being sued.
While it’s good that Skybound have picked the rights up and will now be developing and publishing the game, it will be interesting to see what this means for the ex-staff of Telltale, whether senior members of the development are brought back to lend a guiding hand or if they will return wholesale.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season still has two episodes left to “air”. The third and fourth were due to release in November and December respectively, though that is now highly unlikely.
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